Georgia #1 in solar jobs and China beats its own emissions pledge

It’s great the three biggest climate change problem countries are finally
committing to emissions reductions and other substantial changes,
although not enough to, you know,
stop global warming from getting even worse.
Meanwhile, CO2 emissions did not increase from 2013 to 2014,
even though the global economy grew, and this was largely
because of renewable energy deployment in China.
That’s right: China is actually leading the way faster on climate change
than it is promising to do.
And the old fake excuse that we need fossil fuels for economic growth
is busted.
Oh, and Georgia is leading the U.S.!

President Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, leaders of
the Western Hemisphere’s two most populous countries, released a
statement Tuesday pledging each country to get 20 percent of its
electricity by 2030 from renewable sources, not including
hydropower. In addition, Brazil pledged to restore 12 million
hectares, or 46,332 square miles, of its forests — about the
size of England — by 2030 while it also pursues
“policies aimed at eliminating illegal deforestation.”

Also on Tuesday, China extended and solidified climate commitments
made in November by releasing its own emissions reduction target in
anticipation of the United Nations’ climate meeting in Paris in late
2015. The world’s largest emitter pledged to reduce the amount of
carbon emitted relative to the size of its economy by 60 to 65
percent by 2030, building on cuts already made and in line with a
prior agreement with the United States.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector plateaued in 2014,
according to preliminary figures from the International Energy
Agency.

If the figures are confirmed in June, it will be the first time in
40 years that the rise in emissions has stalled in the absence of a
financial crisis.

The IEA
announced today that global emissions from energy generation
in 2014 were 32.3 billion tonnes of carbon, the same as in 2013….

In its statement, the IEA says: “The preliminary IEA data suggest
that efforts to mitigate climate change may be having a more
pronounced effect on emissions than had previously been thought.”

It says the stall is due to changing energy consumption patterns in
China and the influential countries from the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development. For example, it points out
that the use of renewable energy sources like hydropower, solar and
wind are on the rise in China, and coal is in decline.

Georgia’s booming solar industry led to its rank as the No. 1 job
creator in the clean energy industry during the first quarter of
2015, according to a report released Tuesday.

Projects across the state totaled 2,870 job announcements, nearly
1,000 more than California, which is second, and 1,200 more than
third-place Texas.
The
report was compiled
by
Environmental Entrepreneurs,
a nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors
that promotes environmental policies.

Jeff Benzak, a spokesman for Environmental Entrepreneurs, said
Georgia hasn’t ranked in the top 10 states since the group started
the ranking in 2012. California and Texas normally lead the list, he
said.

Forty clean energy or clean transportation projects were announced
in 19 states, creating more than 9,800 direct jobs, according to the
group’s job tracking analysis. The solar industry was the top sector
for job growth.

“Largely due to a big spike in solar projects, this number is
almost double the number of jobs tracked during the corresponding
quarter in 2014, and roughly equivalent to the fourth quarter
2014,” the report says.